China zoo gardener mauled to death by tigers

A gardener at a zoo in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen was mauled to death by five tigers after falling into their pen, Chinese media reported today.

A gardener at a zoo in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen was mauled to death by five tigers after falling into their pen, Chinese media reported Friday.

Zookeepers drove a vehicle into the tigers' enclosure in Shenzhen Safari Park after spotting the attack on Sheng Jinhua, 54, on Thursday afternoon but were too late to save him, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Sheng died of severe bite wounds.

Zoo officials said they believed Sheng, who started working at the zoo in July, violated safety rules and climbed over the fence, Xinhua said, adding that police were investigating.

Zheng Chaolun, a zoo administrator, told the Guangzhou Daily newspaper that the accident occurred within a normally sealed enclosure containing a total of nine tigers, surrounded by a 1.8-metre (six-foot) tall glass barrier.